Tiny, isolated Mobile inches closer to metro Phoenix life with proposed solar farm, annexation

Goodyear's far-flung, rural southern planning area could finally see some development more than a decade after developers ditched efforts for a massive master-planned community in the area.

In 2007, Goodyear first annexed about 67 square miles in the Sonoran desert, including the small community of Mobile, a 60-mile drive from the heart of town.

At the time, Mobile was in unincorporated Maricopa County and was home to about 90 residents. Since then, Mobile hasn't grown much. The community, about an hour south of downtown Goodyear, still maintains a population of under 100.

Mobile sprawls. While the school and fire station lie north of State Route 238, the cluster of houses sits several miles east of the school and south of State Route 238. Aside from the highway, none of the roads is paved. There are no restaurants, gas stations or stores in the area, and many houses are entirely fenced off along one private road.

That remoteness could all change soon, as the Valley's fast-growing cities edge closer to tiny outposts like Mobile.

Developer EDF Renewables has proposed a nearly 2,200-acre solar power generation facility with a battery energy storage system. The project would be located about four miles south of State Route 238, which goes through Mobile.

EDF Renewables proposed the city annex an additional 800-plus acres to complete the project. But some City Council members are hesitant after the previous plans to develop the land fell through and left the city spending millions of dollars per year to provide services like public safety and road maintenance to tiny, remote Mobile.

What were Goodyear's plans for Mobile?

Scottsdale-based Montage Holdings once sought to develop a master-planned community called Amaranth when the city annexed the area in 2007. The plan called for 42,000 homes and more than 20 million square feet of retail space across 10,100 acres.

In 2008, the Great Recession, which was fueled by a crash in the housing market, led to delays in the project timeline. The developer previously had hoped to begin selling homes in 2010.

In 2008, Goodyear announced the developer's foreclosure as it had defaulted on its private $250 million loan.

City officials met with residents at the time to explain that city public safety services, which had been ramped up with the annexation, had to be scaled back. The foreclosure left Goodyear with about $5.2 million in unplanned expenses that year that would have been covered by Montage Holdings, which eventually declared bankruptcy.

Rob Antoniak, who served on the Goodyear City Council from 2003 to 2010, said he might not have supported the annexation had he known the recession was coming.

In 2000, Goodyear had a population of about 19,000, compared with an estimated 112,000 in 2023. The city was rapidly growing, making room for thousands of residents each year.

Big master-planned communities, like Estrella and Verrado, were taking off and were the development trend at the time.

Antoniak said the expectation was that development eventually would crop up in between Goodyear and Mobile, meaning Mobile wouldn't be so far away from the rest of the city. And many landowners in between who supported the annexation and Amaranth, Antoniak said.

At the time, wildcat subdivisions were also popping up throughout the Phoenix area — "subdivisions" of fewer than six lots that are exempt from certain state development laws.

"It made sense for us, as the nearest neighboring city, to take a responsible approach towards growth," Antoniak said.

Patricia Blair, who has been a Mobile resident for about 20 years, said she favored the annexation at the time because Amaranth would have provided more schools, hospitals and stores. Blair lives on the east side of Mobile and said Amaranth would have been on the west side, meaning her area would have remained relatively rural.

Now, the nearest stores and gas stations to Mobile are in Maricopa, about a 15- to 20-minute drive away. While Mobile has an elementary school, high school students attend school in Maricopa.

But Blair ultimately feels like Mobile residents were tricked into supporting the annexation since Amaranth never came to fruition.

Blair said she believes Mobile is neglected by the city, having inadequate road maintenance and emergency services. While Goodyear firefighters in Mobile will come out to houses and make sure people and animals are safe during a fire, Blair said they don't have the water to put out a fire and are forced to watch the homes burn.

Because Goodyear annexed the land, it has to provide services like police and fire to the residents of Mobile.

These days, it's home to several landfills and a training airport operated by Lufthansa. No roads lead directly to Mobile from Goodyear, meaning the area is only accessible via State Route 238.

That would make Mobile about a 60-mile drive from downtown Goodyear, despite only being located about 30 miles outside of the city geographically.

No other plans exist to develop land in Mobile. But the city is still moving toward developing Sonoran Valley Parkway, which would be a 15-mile highway that would provide a direct route from Mobile to the intersection of Riggs and Rainbow Valley roads in Goodyear.

In the works: Goodyear gets the OK to build 15-mile Sonoran Valley Parkway. Here's what the city is waiting on

The parkway construction would help with some of the problems that have plagued Goodyear since it first annexed the community, such as long response times with police and fire.

Through the years, Mobile has had different cities providing fire coverage. In 2010, the city of Goodyear paid the city of Maricopa $74,000 annually to provide services, although Goodyear currently covers the area. Mobile residents had to wait as long as 18 minutes for fire services in 2010 when Maricopa was providing fire services.

Goodyear could annex more land near Mobile

But the solar and battery storage facility would be low use, meaning it wouldn't require too much maintenance for roads, since it wouldn't cause an influx in traffic or residents.

The facility would cover about 2,200 acres, with 1,350 acres already within Goodyear city limits, said Katie Wilken, city development services director.

But the developer is also asking Goodyear to annex another nearly 830 acres near the Mobile area; 668 of the acres are owned by the Arizona State Land Department.

Nobody lives in that area.

Battery storage facilities are popping up at increasing rates in Arizona, particularly in the southwest Valley. The batteries store energy generated from storage panels during the day, so that the energy can then be used during peak hours when demand is at its highest.

City Council approval to simply begin the annexation process does not equate to final council approval. It simply allows city staff to move forward with annexation by starting conversations between the developer and city staff, Wilken said. There would still be a public hearing and conversations with city staff before the council would vote.

While the permitting and construction process was anticipated to take about five years, the solar and battery energy storage facility was projected to operate for the next 30 years.

The project would result in about $6 million in increased property taxes for the city, or about $171,500 per year. If the City Council were to deny the annexation and approve the special use permit for solar, that would only bring it about $2.7 million, or $78,400 per year, since the scope of the project would be reduced within the city limits.

EDF Renewables could still move forward with the project even if the annexation was denied. However, the process would be more complicated since it would need to get the necessary permits from a second government entity, Maricopa County.

Wilken said the act of annexing the land cannot be undone, which is how Goodyear originally assumed responsibility of Mobile.

Jordan Rose of Rose Law Group, which represents EDF Renewables, said the project also would allocate $27 million to Mobile Elementary School and Mobile Adult Learning and Education.

In the development agreement, which the city would establish before annexation, Rose said EDF Renewables also would be responsible for coming up with the funds to provide public safety, water and any road improvements to the area as opposed to the city.

Blair said she thinks she would support the annexation and solar energy facility. At about four miles away, it's far enough away that it wouldn't bother her, she said .

But what Blair really wants to see are improvements to the schools. Blair has been a school board volunteer on the three-person Mobile school board for 20 years. Students come from Maricopa to the school, and Blair said the school board hopes to one day get a bus that goes to pick up students from Gila Bend.

Although Mobile Elementary is a small K-8 school with only about 30 students, Blair said the school board hopes to keep the classes small, since some students tend to get lost in larger classrooms. And if more students come to the school, more teachers would be needed to keep the classes small.

The school also lacks amenities such as music education. Although it already has plenty of instruments, Blair said the school has been unable to find a replacement music teacher for one who left several years ago. In addition, the small school currently can't keep up with the wages seen in larger schools throughout the state.

Several things could be funded if the school gets a large chunk of money from EDF Renewables, including possibly building an entirely new school.

"They're our future presidents, Senate, House, policemen. They all need to be taught," Blair said.

Goodyear city leaders express concerns

The Goodyear City Council, with the exception of Councilmember Wally Campbell, ultimately approved the measure, which essentially allows the developer to begin discussions with city staff.

That didn't mean the decision came without concerns.

Councilmember Brannon Hampton discussed previous fires that have occurred at battery storage facilities, and said he wanted to make sure that first responders would be able to get to the site quickly. In 2019, eight firefighters were sent to the hospital after an explosion occurred at an Arizona Public Service battery storage facility in Surprise. In 2012, a facility also caught fire in Flagstaff, which Hampton cited at the City Council meeting.

In 2020, it was determined that the 2019 explosion was caused by a lithium-ion battery failure, although a report concluded that neither APS nor the first responders fully understood the risk, since the building ultimately exploded after firefighters opened the door to the facility.

More about it: Cause of APS battery explosion that injured 9 first responders detailed in new report

Hampton wanted to make sure that the Goodyear Fire Department would be adequately equipped to handle any emergencies. Rose said EDF Renewables would fund the fire services, which would include potentially improving a fire station already located in Mobile near the elementary school.

Vice Mayor Laura Kaino had similar concerns, saying that putting out a fire at a battery storage facility takes a significant amount of water in comparison with other fires. And because mutual aid from other entities is about 25 minutes away, Kaino said she's worried the one fire truck located in Mobile wouldn't have the capacity to put out a fire.

Kaino still voted to approve the city moving forward toward an annexation, hoping the issues she mentioned would be addressed before it comes time to vote for the annexation itself.

While Kaino and Hampton ultimately supported the city moving forward toward the annexation, Campbell said she is strongly opposed, saying that the city got "badly burned" with Amaranth.

"The more we expand our footprint down there, the more responsibility we're going to have," Campbell said.

Rose, in response, reminded Campbell that she still would be able to vote against the annexation if her concerns weren't addressed in the development agreement. However, Campbell still opted to vote against it.

Councilmember Vicki Gillis voted for annexation, saying that Mobile residents should be treated like all other residents of Goodyear, which means improving the schools and public safety.

On a recent trip to the area, Gillis said there are two to three classes in each room within the school. And the new project would provide a significant amount of funding to improve the school because of taxing districts, which is another reason Gillis voted for the initiative.

"I think those kids deserve better than we're giving them," Gillis said.

Controversial issue: Why some Goodyear residents are opposed to a new QuikTrip

Reach the reporter at ahardle@gannett.com or by phone at 480-259-8545. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @AlexandraHardle .

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Tiny, isolated Mobile inches closer to metro Phoenix life with proposed solar farm, annexation